The US company that owns the coal mine where 12 workers died this week expressed regret to relatives for having given them false hope that their loved ones had survived. The head of International Coal Group acknowledged that managers knew a report that the miners had survived was wrong within 20 minutes but waited three hours to tell the families because it was seeking confirmation.
"We were trying to get them good information and in the process of being cautious, we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than it should have," ICG president and chief executive Ben Hatfield told reporters.
Overnight, families keeping vigil at a church erupted in cheers and singing when they heard that 12 men had survived.
But three hours later, their jubilation, which was carried live on US television news channels, turned to shock and grief when they were told the miners were dead.
A 13th miner was the lone survivor and was taken to a hospital, where he was in critical condition. The miners became trapped after an explosion inside the Sago mine on Monday that released poisonous carbon monoxide gas.
Relatives of the victims were enraged, condemning the mine owners for allowing celebrations to go on for hours and accusing ICG of tolerating flawed safety standards.
"I believe this company needs (to be) sued," Harley Ables, whose brother-in-law died in the mine, told a local newspaper, the Charleston Daily Mail. "They straight up lied to a million people."
The International Coal Group, which has been cited by inspectors for safety violations at the mine, said the false reports spread after people heard a conversation between the rescue team and the command center.
"It is unfortunate and we are saddened by the fact that the communication problems we experienced last night only add to the terrible tragedy," Hatfield said.
The lone survivor was identified as Randal McCloy, 27, who was taken to West Virginia University Hospital, where a doctor said he was in critical condition and dehydrated, with a collapsed lung.
The mining company said it had set up a fund for the miners' families with an initial contribution of two million dollars.
"No amount of money can take the place of a loved one, but the families do have financial needs as well," ICG's chairman, Wilbur Ross, said in a statement.
The body of one miner who had apparently died from the explosion was discovered late Tuesday.
The 12 others, along with the lone survivor, were found 4,000 meters (13,00 feet) below ground behind a makeshift barricade they had erected to protect themselves while waiting to be rescued, Hatfield said. Eleven appeared to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.
The close-knit community had been waiting anxiously for news on the miners since they were trapped early Monday.
Shortly before midnight (0500 GMT Wednesday), bells pealed and cheers erupted at the nearby Sago Baptist Church as West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin announced: "They told us they have 12 alive."
But in a tragic turn of events three hours later, people left the church in a state of shock and in tears after mining officials inside confirmed the grim news that only one of the miners had survived.
After Hatfield blamed the confusion on miscommunication, Anna Casto, whose cousin was among the victims, told CNN television: "No, he strictly told us they was alive. ... Three hours later, he come back and said they wasn't."
"We want to know why, and how people can get by with this," she said, according to the network's website.
"We had a miracle, and it was taken away from us," Casto said.
The federal government agency in charge of mining safety had launched a probe to determine the cause of the tragedy and ICG said it was cooperating with investigators.
The mine was cited 273 times for safety violations over the past two years, according to records kept by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
John Bennett, whose father, Jim, was among the dead miners, said his father had told him the mine was unsafe and that he was afraid to work there.
"I asked him on numerous occasions to please leave this mine," Bennett told NBC television.
